It’s not possible to vet all staff for Hamas loyalty, says UN Palestinian agency chief

THE head of the UN’s embattled Palestinian refugee agency has admitted his organisation cannot weed out all staff members who have pro-Hamas sentiments.

Israel has long accused the agency, which hires roughly 30,000 local staff across Gaza and the wider region, of being a “Hamas front” that protects fighters and promotes anti-Semitic rhetoric in its schools. In January, it said 12 of its staff had aided the Oct 7 attacks.

Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said his organisation had been successful in maintaining staff neutrality “if you take into consideration the complex environment where we operate”.

However, he said: “There is [only] as much as you can do when it comes to screening your staff. I can’t screen what you think at night in your private circle if I don’t know your private circle.” In an interview with the

in Geneva, Mr Lazzarini said he was “aware of the risk that neutrality can be breached” because staff have a “dual identity” – as UN workers and Palestinians – which “can be conflicted, especially in a time of war or tension”. “We acknowledge that this is an issue

requires our attention, our vigilance, and requires the agency to invest quite a lot to prevent this kind of situation,” he added.

Mr Lazzarini said he would like to see more staff dedicated specifically to the vetting of the 1,000 or so new recruits who join the organisation every year, but warned that this would require increasing the agency’s budget.

His comments come as his agency and donors await the findings of a UN investigation into whether 12 UNRWA

‘We acknowledge that this requires our attention, our vigilance… to prevent this kind of situation’

employees were involved in the massacre of 1,200 Israelis.

Israel’s allegations prompted 18 donors, including the UK and the US, to suspend $450 million’s worth of funding for UNRWA, which is now at “breaking point”, said Mr Lazzarini, and struggling to deliver aid to Gaza.

As the humanitarian situation in the enclave further deteriorates, with children dying from starvation, the European Union has since resumed funding.

On Thursday, the US announced that it would construct a port in Gaza to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the territory, but it is awaiting the release of the report before deciding whether to restore its UNRWA funding.

Lord Cameron, the British Foreign Secretary, is understood to have lost patience at the lack of aid making its way into Gaza. One source close to the former prime minister said he believes the Government may have jumped the gun in withdrawing funding.

Mr Lazzarini said Britain and its allies had acted out of “domestic considerations, pressure and perceptions”.

The UN’s probe is due to publish its preliminary findings on March 20. Yet, as of March 7, Israel had not shared any evidence with the investigators, a UN spokesman told Nor has UNRWA received this information, Mr Lazzarini said.

However, at Israel’s invitation, the UN team is expected in Jerusalem next week and will “be speaking directly with officials to advance the investigation, which will depend on effective cooperation on the ground there”, the spokesman added.

Mr Lazzirini is not the first UNRWA chief to acknowledge the threat posed by Hamas sympathies. In 2004, Peter Hansen said he was “sure” that Hamas members were on the agency’s payroll and went further in saying that he did not see that as an issue.